Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.

Sunday, November 04, 2012

Claws come out in dispute between animal rights activists

A public falling-out between two prominent animal-rights activists
has prompted a restraining order and an arrest, casting light on the
volatile mix of personalities that may fuel extreme elements of the
animal-rights movement. Steven Best, an outspoken advocate of animal rights and philosophy
professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, obtained a restraining
order on 15 October against fellow activist Camille Marino after she
allegedly stalked Best and threatened violence against him. Marino was
arrested at her home in Wildwood, Florida, on 19 October for violating
the injunction. According to Marino’s website, she had e-mailed Best
against the terms of that order. Marino has earned a reputation for stalking animal researchers in the
past and encouraged violent action on her website, which also publishes
photographs and addresses of scientists’ homes. For his part, Best has
spoken internationally about the justification for extreme animal
activism. As a consequence, he has been banned from entering the United Kingdom. In his request for protection filed in Dona Ana County, New Mexico,
Best described Marino as “an old friend”, saying that they had worked
together in the past “for the animals”. But he said that Marino had
developed a “fatal attraction, love/hate” relationship towards him. Best
alleged that in the past several months Marino had harassed him by
phone and e-mail, threatened his life and slandered his reputation
online. Best would not speak about the case to Nature, but wrote in
his petition that he feared Marino could pose a physical threat to
others. “I now fear that person will not be a medical
researcher/vivisector she loathes so intensely, but rather me,” he said. The New Mexico court granted Best’s protective order against Marino,
requiring the woman to stay at least 100 yards (about 100 metres) from
Best, his New Mexico home and his workplace. The order further required
that Marino refrain from contacting Best, except through his lawyers...more

Any irony here? Oh yes. Dr. David Jentsch, a neuroscientist at UCLA and previous target of Marino says this case is "an ironic twist of fate."

Since becoming a target of Marino, Jentsch has followed the
animal-rights movement closely, and he argues that Best has, in the
past, advocated for the same kind of action against animal researchers
that Camille Marino is now directing towards Best. Still, Jentsch says
that everyone, including Best, deserves to exercise legal protections
against stalking and threatening speech...more